39d okchid-growee s manual. 



called, from its flowers reminding one of English soldiers' 

 jackets, Masdevallia militaris ; and the next critical species is 

 Masdevallia ignea, with its dazzling flowers. It is very easily 

 recognised by its exceedingly stiff dark green leaf, of great 

 substance, standing on a petiole shorter than the blade, by a 

 thicker peduncle, a much wider flower-tube, and a wider limb, 

 the first yellow, the limb cinnabarine, now partly yellow ; the 

 lip is much broader and shorter. The plant does not flower 

 very readily, while M. ignea, with its much broader and 

 longer, lighter green, thinner long-stalked leaves and much 

 less wide flowers gives a profusion of bloom. It was origin- 

 ally discovered by the late V. Warscewicz." — New Grenada. 



M. nycterina, Bchb. f. — A very curious species of the 

 ChimcBra group, and one which was originally figured and sent 

 out for that species by M. Linden ; it, however, proves to be 

 not only distinct from but altogether inferior to it in its 

 grotesque beauty. The plant is of moderately strong growth, 

 with oblanceolate leaves, keeled behind and tapered to the base. 

 The scapes, which each bear one blossom, are much shorter 

 than the leaves, and spread out horizontally ; the flowers have 

 a short slender dark purple tube, and three sepals, which 

 together form a triangular limb about two inches deep, each 

 being continued into a subulate tail about two inches long, so 

 that the expanse of the flower from tip to tip of the opposite 

 tails is about six inches ; the colour of the broader parts is a 

 pale buff-yellow, beautifully blotched and spotted with purple- 

 brown, the whole of the surface being also covered with minute 

 hairs, and the tails are wholly of the same purple-brown tint as 

 the spots. The lip. which in these plants is seldom conspicuous, 

 is here larger than usual, and forms rather a prominent object 

 in the centre of the flower, having a buff strap -shaped claw 

 and an incurved sacciform white limb. This species forms a 

 very interesting subject for a basket, as the flowers are pro- 

 duced horizontally from the base of the plant. — New Grenada. 



Fig.— lUust. Hort.. 3 ser., tt. 117, 118 (as Chimsera); Floral Mag., 2ser., t. 

 150 ; Gard. Chron., N.S., i. 639, fig. 134; Id., xvi. 336, fig. 64. 



M. polysticta, Rchh. f. — A very pretty free-blooming species 

 of the racemose-flowered group. The plants form a dense 

 tuft of spathulate-oblanceolate obtuse or retuse three-nerved 

 leaves, and produce numerous scapes taller than the leaves, 

 each bearing a raceme of from six to eight flowers, which are 

 of a very pale lilac, almost white, and speckled all over with 



